Brain scans reveal signatures of musical creativity
In order to mimic real-life improvisation as realistically as possible, the researchers designed their experiment to include some limitations on their musician-subjects' ability to improvise. They set up two situations in order to impart both "scientific rigor" and "high-level musicality" to their study, Limb said.
The pianists were allowed to improvise in both situations, but the level of musical complexity with which they were allowed to improvise varied between the two.
In the low-complexity case, they were "highly constrained," Limb noted. As a control, subjects were asked to play a one-octave C-major scale repeatedly. When it came time for improvisation, they were only allowed to play quarter notes in the C-major scale within the same octave. That's kind of like telling Mozart to compose a symphony on only four piano keys.
The high-complexity case was slightly more involved. The pianists had been asked to memorize a jazz composition beforehand. Then, in the fMRI machine, they were asked to play it from memory to establish a baseline.
Subsequently, the subjects were required only to use that composition's underlying chord structure as a basis for their improvisation. The rest was up to them. In this case, Limb said, "the musicians could really play as they wished."
The results were intriguing. Brain activity was nearly identical in both cases, Limb said, suggesting that the "altered state of mind" that occurs during improvisation is independent of musical complexity.
What's more, the researchers were able to connect improvisation to a very specific pattern of activity in certain brain areas, and one area, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular.
The finding that the PFC is involved in improvisation wasn't a surprise, as it's often thought of as the center of higher cognitive processes. What was intriguing, however, was the contrast between deactivation and activation in different parts of the PFC.
Deactivation was seen in the lateral area of the PFC, which has been shown to consciously monitor, evaluate and correct an individual's goal-directed behavior. In other words, the musicians' normal, rational minds were subdued during improvisation.
The pianists were allowed to improvise in both situations, but the level of musical complexity with which they were allowed to improvise varied between the two.
In the low-complexity case, they were "highly constrained," Limb noted. As a control, subjects were asked to play a one-octave C-major scale repeatedly. When it came time for improvisation, they were only allowed to play quarter notes in the C-major scale within the same octave. That's kind of like telling Mozart to compose a symphony on only four piano keys.
The high-complexity case was slightly more involved. The pianists had been asked to memorize a jazz composition beforehand. Then, in the fMRI machine, they were asked to play it from memory to establish a baseline.
Subsequently, the subjects were required only to use that composition's underlying chord structure as a basis for their improvisation. The rest was up to them. In this case, Limb said, "the musicians could really play as they wished."
The results were intriguing. Brain activity was nearly identical in both cases, Limb said, suggesting that the "altered state of mind" that occurs during improvisation is independent of musical complexity.
What's more, the researchers were able to connect improvisation to a very specific pattern of activity in certain brain areas, and one area, the prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular.
The finding that the PFC is involved in improvisation wasn't a surprise, as it's often thought of as the center of higher cognitive processes. What was intriguing, however, was the contrast between deactivation and activation in different parts of the PFC.
Deactivation was seen in the lateral area of the PFC, which has been shown to consciously monitor, evaluate and correct an individual's goal-directed behavior. In other words, the musicians' normal, rational minds were subdued during improvisation.
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